Fechtelkotter v. Air Line Pilots Ass'n, Intern.

Decision Date01 December 1982
Docket NumberNo. 81-4029,81-4029
Citation693 F.2d 899
Parties111 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 3065, 95 Lab.Cas. P 13,883 H.D. FECHTELKOTTER, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. AIR LINE PILOTS ASSOCIATION, INTERNATIONAL, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Gary Green, Washington, D.C., for defendant-appellant.

John Bacheller, Jr., Bacheller, Shade & McDonald, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiffs-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Before MERRILL, KENNEDY and CANBY, Circuit Judges.

CANBY, Circuit Judge.

The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) appeals from the district court's judgment setting aside fines ALPA assessed against six of its member pilots.

FACTS

During September of 1977, flight attendants, employed by Transamerica Airlines, Inc. (Transamerica) and represented by the Teamsters Union, went on strike in a dispute over new contract terms. ALPA, the exclusive bargaining representative for Transamerica pilots, decided to honor the Teamster picket line. In the weeks that followed virtually all of Transamerica's more than 300 pilots refused to fly, grounding almost all of its commercial flights. 1 After a month of support for the flight attendant's strike, ALPA began negotiating with Transamerica and reached a back-to-work agreement under which the pilots returned to work in November, 1977. The agreement included the following clause:

"There shall be no reprisals or recriminations by either side as a result of activities during the strike."

After the pilots returned to work, ALPA instituted disciplinary proceedings against pilots who had flown during the sympathy strike and fined them the amounts they had earned by such flying. The pilots refused to pay the fines and brought this action in federal district court, alleging that by disciplining the pilots the union had violated the terms of the "no-reprisal" clause and breached its contract with Transamerica. The pilots alleged standing to sue in their own names as third party beneficiaries of the agreement. The pilots further alleged that ALPA had violated its statutory duty of fair representation by fining the pilots in violation of the "no-reprisal" clause. After ALPA's motion for summary judgment motion was denied, the case was tried to the court.

The district court interpreted the "no-reprisal" clause as prohibiting ALPA from disciplining the pilots who flew during the strike; it therefore set aside the fines. The court also found, however, that the union's decision to discipline pilots who flew during the strike "stemmed from ALPA's understandable misinterpretation of [the no-reprisal clause], and not any deceit, improper union intent, or bad faith." It found no evidence that the fines were selectively or discriminatorily imposed: "ALPA's action in initiating disciplinary proceedings does not amount to 'fraud, deceitful action, or dishonest conduct' which is necessary to establish a violation of the duty of fair representation. Buzzard v. Local Lodge 1040 Int'l. Ass'n. of Mach. and A. Workers, 480 F.2d 35, 40 (9th Cir.1973); Motor Coach Employees v. Lockridge, 403 U.S. 274, 299, 91 S.Ct. 1909, 1924, 29 L.Ed.2d 473 (1971)." The pilots have filed no cross-appeal from the district court's decision that ALPA did not violate its duty of fair representation.

The district court also held that the action was not barred because the pilots' employer was paying their litigation expenses. It ruled that Sec. 101(a)(4) of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 (LMRDA), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 411(a)(4), which prohibits employers from financing union members' actions against unions, did not apply because the present litigation was not brought under the LMRDA.

In its appeal, ALPA contends: first, that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to interpret the contract and set aside the fines; second, that the district court incorrectly interpreted the "no-reprisal" clause of the back-to-work agreement; and third, that the action was barred by Sec. 101(a)(4) of the LMRDA. Since we hold that the district court did not have subject matter jurisdiction to interpret and enforce the "no-reprisal" clause absent a violation of the union's statutory duty to represent its members fairly, we need not decide the latter two issues.

JURISDICTION

The pilots asserted, and the trial judge below held, that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over this case under both the Railway Labor Act (RLA), 45 U.S.C. Secs. 151-188, and Sec. 301(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 185(a). The pilots have carefully avoided any attempt to invoke the LMRDA because Transamerica is supporting the litigation. 2

The RLA has governed labor relations of airlines since 1936. 45 U.S.C. Sec. 181 (1976). We therefore must view the assertion of jurisdiction in light of the policy and history of the RLA. "The role of the courts in enforcing substantive obligations under the RLA is circumscribed by the Act's unique history and dispute resolution framework." Air Line Pilots Ass'n v. Texas Int'l Airlines, 656 F.2d 16, 19 (2d Cir.1981). The Act consists of "a unique blend of moral and legal duties looking toward settlement through conciliation, mediation, voluntary arbitration, presidential intervention, and finally, in case of ultimate failure of the statutory machinery, resort to traditional self-help measures." Chicago v. N.W. Ry. Co. v. United Transportation Union, 402 U.S. 570, 589, 91 S.Ct. 1731, 1741, 29 L.Ed.2d 187 (1971) (Brennan, J., dissenting). As Justice Brennan noted, in each case where the Supreme Court approved judicial intervention in RLA disputes, "the scheme of the Railway Labor Act could not begin to work without judicial involvement. That is, unless the unions fairly represented all of their employees ... the statutory mechanism could not hope to induce a negotiated settlement." Id. at 595, 91 S.Ct. at 1744. See also Summit Airlines v. Teamsters Local Union No. 295, 628 F.2d 787, 789-793 (2d Cir.1980).

Since the RLA reflects such strong policies in favor of arbitration and against judicial intervention, see General Committee v. Missouri-Kan.-Tex. R. Co., 320 U.S. 323, 336-338, 64 S.Ct. 146, 152-53, 88 L.Ed. 76 (1943), it is crucial that the pilots demonstrate a specific right to federal judicial relief against their union for "misinterpreting" the "no reprisal" clause. Absent some clear basis in the RLA for the district court's jurisdiction, the court must defer to the dispute settlement procedures of the Act. Summit Airlines, supra; ALPA v. Texas Int'l, supra.

The district court asserted that it had jurisdiction over the pilots' claim under the RLA, relying upon Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80, and Brady v. Trans World Airlines, 401 F.2d 87 (3d Cir.1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1048, 89 S.Ct. 684, 21 L.Ed.2d 691, cert. denied, 394 U.S. 955, 89 S.Ct. 1272, 22 L.Ed.2d 492 (1969). Both those cases, however, involved a valid claim that the union violated its statutory duty of fair representation, not claims that a union's interpretation of a contract was mistaken. 3 Conley and Brady dealt with the question whether a claim for violation of the union's duty to represent fairly must be heard first by the adjustment board if, to resolve that claim, the board must interpret the collective bargaining agreement. See Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. at 44, 78 S.Ct. at 101; Brady, 401 F.2d at 96. 4 These unfair representation cases have no application here, because the union did not violate its duty to represent fairly and the pilots have shown us no other statutory basis for subject matter jurisdiction. Even if the claim is not within the jurisdiction of the systems adjustment board, 5 the district court has no basis for jurisdiction because the claim implicates no statutory right arising out of the provisions of the Railway Labor Act. Once the district court determined that ALPA had not violated its duty of fair representation, the pilots' suit should have been dismissed.

Federal district courts sometimes may enforce awards of system adjustment boards set up by each airline and union under the RLA, and the Supreme Court has found an implied private right of action arising out of Sec. 204 of the Act, 45 U.S.C. Sec. 184, to enforce such awards. Int'l Ass'n of Machinists v. Central Airlines, 372 U.S. 682, 83 S.Ct. 956, 10 L.Ed.2d 67 (1963). Here, since the dispute was never presented to the adjustment board, the pilots cannot invoke district court's jurisdiction to enforce an award. 6

The pilots also cannot assert rights under Section 301(a) of the NLRA 7. The airline pilots, their union, and Transamerica are subject to the RLA; sections 2(2) and (3) of the NLRA 8 consequently define them out of LMRA coverage. See Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 394 U.S. 369, 376-377, 89 S.Ct. 1109, 1114, 22 L.Ed.2d 344 (1969); Raus v. Brotherhood of Ry. Carmen, 663 F.2d 791, 794 (8th Cir.1981). Although analogies drawn from the LMRA are sometimes useful in determining rights of RLA employees, the LMRA has no direct application to actions brought by RLA employees. Jacksonville Terminal, supra, 394 U.S. at 377, 391, 89 S.Ct. at 1114, 1122.

The one exception applicable here to the strict pattern of judicial deference to the procedures of the RLA occurs when the union violates its statutory duty of fair representation. That duty applies equally to both the RLA and the LMRA; while it usually is discussed in terms of the latter Act, the duty was first recognized in Steele v. Louisville & Nashville R. Co., 323 U.S. 192, 65 S.Ct. 226, 89 L.Ed. 173 (1944), a case which arose under the RLA. The Supreme Court implied the duty as a necessary corollary to the union's status as the exclusive representative of all the employees in a particular bargaining unit. See Int'l Bhd. of Electrical Workers v....

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